Rwanda

My Rwanda travel summary:

Visited: June 2022

Duration of visit: 8 days

Capital city: Kigali

Population: 13 million (2022)

Rwanda travel blog reading time: 9 minutes

• Climbing volcano Mount Bisoke and meeting gorilla family.
• Friendly and surprisingly calm people of Rwanda.
• Memorials commemorating one of humanity’s worst atrocities.
• Kigali – a vibrant capital with sights, great food and nightlife.
• Butare (Huye) – the former capital, home to Rwanda’s Ethnographic Museum.

Rwanda was the last country I visited on this backpacking trip, alongside DR Congo, Republic of the Congo and Burundi). Known as The Switzerland of Africa, it is a landlocked country of lush landscapes and a thousand hills. Rwanda is also one of Africa’s smallest and most densely populated nations.

For me, Rwanda’s most remarkable distinction is its reputation as the cleanest nation in Africa.

Plastic bag bans, public awareness, efficient waste collection and mandatory cleaning have made Rwanda remarkably clean.

Dignity has been a major priority for President Paul Kagame. His government has banned second-hand clothing imports and introduced national cleaning days, which he says help preserve the dignity of his people.

Crossing the border from Goma to Gisenyi felt like entering a different world. After seeing barely three tourists in four weeks backpacking through the Congos and Burundi, I started my Rwanda travel adventure by encountering Dutch cyclists, American tourists and other muzungos in private vehicles.

English replaced French, although most people could barely understand it. Riding a moto-taxi with a helmet along perfectly paved, traffic-free roads was a welcome change.

I felt that Rwanda was positioning itself as a tourist-friendly, environmentally conscious country with modern infrastructure and cordial people. It offers attractive sights, beautiful places to visit and exclusive things to do at high prices.

Another major difference was the cleanliness of streets, parks and patios. I saw no litter anywhere.

People treated me politely, without shouting, aggression or pushy sales tactics.

The only exception was the bus terminal, where agents competed for passengers and pulled them in every direction.

Musanze, also called Ruhengeri, is a main town in northern Rwanda and a good base for exploring nearby Volcanoes National Park. Having already done gorilla trekking at a much lower price in DR Congo, I wanted to climb a volcano in Rwanda instead. At the end of the dry season, with improving weather and the low tourist season, it was a perfect time to climb Mount Bisoke.

The volcano straddles the Rwanda–DR Congo border, but its summit lies in Rwanda. The popular hike climbs its steep southwestern slopes, also offering views of other volcanoes. A crater lake lies just below the summit.

5:30am – Wake up.

5:45am – Breakfast.

6:15am – Half an hour by moto-taxi to Volcanoes National Park headquarters. I pay 75USD for the hike and present a rapid Covid-19 test. After a month without seeing other tourists, I meet a large group of international visitors, most paying US$1,500 for gorilla trekking. It is a real industry in Rwanda, while in DR Congo I was alone and paid less than a third.

8:30 – The group consists of seven older Dutch women, Jack from the UK, a Colombian nomad and a young French couple. The Dutch women give me a lift to the starting point.

9:00am – We arrive at the starting point at 2,500 meters above sea level. The climb to the 3,711-meters summit takes 3 to 5 hours, depending on fitness, altitude adaptation and mud conditions.

9:10am – Fully equipped soldiers, guides and porters are ready. The guide sets a 1:00pm deadline to reach the summit, after which everyone must turn back and descend.

9:20am – We start walking.

The path is very muddy, so I avoid the worst parts, save energy, breathe slowly and keep my pace. A local porter takes me under his wing and shows me the way. I soon realize I can walk faster than most of the group, so I take the lead. Some Dutch ladies give up and return to the valley.

12:15pm – I reach the 3,711m summit. Great weather allows us to see the crater lake and nearby volcanoes rising above 4,000 meters. Ten minutes later, a French couple joins me, followed shortly by a Colombian girl. They can hardly walk, despite being in their late 20s.

We take photos and eat cold pizza when Martin, the French guy, says:

“Rok, take my camera and record a video. I’m going to propose to my girlfriend!”

He is serious, and 30 seconds later, he asks Bertille to marry him at almost 4,000 meters above sea level. She says yes, and everyone is happy and full of energy again for the walk downhill.

12:50pm – We start descending, while Jack finally reaches the summit, exhausted but thrilled to see gorillas. The Dutch ladies don’t make it to the top, but some spot gorillas.

3:45pm – I reach the bus after a slippery, dangerous descent. The Dutch ladies have left, and my guide is furious because he had left his backpack inside the bus. I find a moto-taxi for the 40-kilometre ride back to my hotel. Exhausted and hungry, I’m still high on adrenaline.

What a day! The highlight of my Rwanda travel adventure!

My knees survive, gorillas appear, and love unfolds at the summit.

“Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you are going to get!”

Forest Gump was right.

Known as the land of a thousand hills, Rwanda’s hilly landscape continues in its sprawling capital, Kigali, next stop on my Rwanda travel adventure.

I needed time to navigate Kigali’s numerous districts, as road connections between them were not always straightforward.

Moto-taxis are everywhere in Kigali, offering rides almost anywhere for a dollar, day or night. The roads are good, drivers respectful and mostly obey police orders. One traffic jam made the ride intense, with desperate drivers, but otherwise I felt safe wearing a helmet on the backseat.

Kigali has a vibrant restaurant and nightlife scene, with options for every budget. Since independence from Belgium in 1962, it has become Rwanda’s economic, cultural and transport hub.

I liked Kigali and found several interesting places to visit and things to do. Here are some of them.

Kimironko Market is well organized, with sections for fruit, vegetables, clothes and colorful traditional fabrics. Nearby, women sit at sewing machines, ready to tailor a dress. As muzungo I was friendly invited to buy products or just visit a specific stand. No hassle whatsoever.

Inema Art Center, founded in 2012 by self-taught painter brothers Emmanuel Nkuranga and Innocent Nkurunziza, supports five artists and promotes creativity. Its paintings, sculptures, souvenir shops and creatively decorated building make it an interesting showcase of African art. Talking to one of the artists, I realized how famous they are internationally. The promotion pushed the prices up and most of the exhibited articles today sell in thousands of dollars.

I found Biryogo car free food street by accident, wandering near my St. Etienne guesthouse in a Muslim quarter. This freshly painted pedestrian street has a vibrant atmosphere, with teahouses, restaurants, bars and pastry shops attracting almost exclusively locals.

Tourists are rarely seen here, but the area is famous for the cheapest brochettes in town. Most visitors and business owners are Muslim, but everyone is welcome.

Kigali Genocide Memorial is a place of remembrance and learning, inaugurated in 2004 to commemorate the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.

Kigali Genocide Memorial is a permanent memorial to those who fell victim to the genocide and serves as a place where the bereaved could bury their family and friends. The remains of over 250,000 people are interred there. The memorial explains how the Genocide against the Tutsi developed and examines other genocides of the 20^th century.

I walked through the museums and the tombs, where people still leave flowers for the genocide victims. Visiting the memorial was heartbreaking, and the atrocities committed in Rwanda must never be forgotten. The museum was one of the landmarks that left the strongest impression on me.

From today’s perspective, it is hard to imagine how the genocide could happen. After my visit, however, I understood that its foundations had been laid long before and that the massacre was only a matter of time. What remains difficult to understand is why the international community withdrew and failed to prevent or stop the mass killings.

More than 200 monuments across Rwanda commemorate this dark and tragic massacre of the Tutsi, during which approximately one million people were killed in just 100 days.

During my Rwanda travel adventure, I also visited several other monuments dedicated to the genocide.

Campaign Against Genocide Museum, next to Rwanda’s Parliament, honors those who fought to stop the mass killing of Tutsis. It also reflects the ruling party’s message of a new Rwanda belonging to all Rwandans, focused on the future while remembering its dark past.

Hotel de Mille Collines is one of Kigali’s larger and best-known hotels. It became famous after 1,268 people took refuge inside during the 1994 Rwandan genocide. I remember this landmark from the movie Hotel Rwanda, based on the real events. Thanks to friends staying there, I also had a chance to enjoy some of its luxurious facilities.

Belgian Peacekeepers Memorial Center commemorates 10 Belgian UN soldiers brutally killed the day after the genocide began. They were guarding Prime Minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana, who took office after President Juvénal Habyarimana died in a plane crash.

Their deaths led to the withdrawal of 450 Belgian troops and eventually other UN forces, leaving the Tutsi community even more vulnerable to the spreading genocide.

The rest is history.

The last stop on my Rwanda travel journey was Butare, also known as Huye, houses the National University of Rwanda and the Ethnographic Museum, an outstanding landmark in the region. A great place to get an insight into the cultural history of the country and life before the colonization through exhibition of clothing, instruments, food, rituals and more.

Apart from beautiful exhibition with explanations in French and English, I was impressed by clean and well-maintained surroundings. The whole country, including all the monuments, museums and attractions I visited, is spotlessly clean and nicely arranged. Many employees work constantly with passion and dedication to create a pleasant environment for visitors.

Rwanda is known for the 100-day genocide against the Tutsis in 1994, which the international community and peacekeeping organizations failed to stop.

I cannot believe that ethnic hatred can reach such extremes that one million people are murdered in the most barbaric ways in just 100 days.

The conflicts had lasted for years, and reconciliation may still be unfinished three decades later. Yet Rwanda shows how a strong, though questionable, government can bring prosperity and progress to a devastated country.

Easy to travel around and focused on high-end tourist packages (gorilla trekking and safaris), Rwanda has extremely friendly and calm people who should, but often don’t, speak English. However, I still had pristine contact with locals, trying to understand how they think, live and recover from a tragedy that remains part of their lives.

I finished my Central African adventure in style, missing the flight connection in Cairo and extending my trip home through Istanbul. Similar as the beginning of my trip, when the flight to Kinshasa was cancelled.

Africa is challenging, unpredictable, poor and corrupt, but its people, nature and culture make it unique and rewarding.